Our hearts go out to the Ferro family. Our own photographer, Claudia Ferro, and her family lost their home last week to a fire. The community has been stepping in and helping them out however they can, and for that the family expressed how grateful and overwhelmed with happiness they are towards everyone. If you would like to help out, a gofundme fundraiser for Claudia Ferro page has been set up by their granddaughter, Arianna Andujar: https://gofund.me/a0fcdde3. It also gives an address where things can be dropped off. They will be publishing a thank you in our paper once things settle down, but they wanted us to share how grateful they are for all the help.

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Congratulations to all our local public servants who were sworn in for another term this week. Let’s wish them the best and hope that they serve all of our interests as fairly and effectively as possible.

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On Thursday, January 7, there will be a Virtual Community Outreach Meeting for a proposed Adult Use Marijuana Retail Establishment. The meeting will begin at 6:00 p.m. and will include discussion about the proposed use in accordance with M.G.L. ch. 94G and the Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission’s regulations at 935 CMR 500.000 and 935 CMR 501.000 et seq. The meeting will be available at the following link and phone number: https://www.gotomeet.me/LanceDavis/adultusecannabisapplicants. Phone: +1 (872) 240-3412, Access Code: 452-339-301.

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The Best of Somerville 2020 winners will be announced in the January 13, edition of our paper. There’s still time to cast your vote for the best. Email, mail or call in your vote for who and what you think is the best. We’re also looking for the Best Idea of 2020 here in the city. If you have anyone or anything you’d like to suggest, let us know. What a year 2020 has been.

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Happy birthday this week to several locals: Happy Birthday to a well-known former teacher in Somerville, Sophia Carafotes. She is a great person and we wish her a great year. Happy birthday to a good guy, Matt Hoey. We wish him the very best on this his birthday week. Happy birthday to former East Somerville and Magoun Sq. sign guy, Dominick Silvestri Jr. We wish him the very best. Happy birthday to Theresa Rodriques, who is celebrating this week. Finally, to an all-around nice guy, Kevin O’Donovan. We wish all of our Facebook friends, such as Gale Mahan, Steven Anthony, George Allen, Linda Alves Pereira, Rick Rossetti, Rose Amabile, Livia E Sharpe, David Foley, Chris Walsh, Alberta Healey, Janice Burpee and Rick Jackson a very happy birthday. We hope everyone has a great day. To all the others we may have missed, we sincerely wish them the very best of birthdays.

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It was brought to our attention that there is a call-to-action letter from Somerville Parents for an Equitable and Safe Opening (SPESO) to the Somerville School Committee requesting a 5-day-a-week in-person school for young children ASAP. You can read the letter at: https://www.speso.org/call-to-action.

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Our sincere condolences to Doug Holder and his family on the passing of his mother. She sounded like a remarkable woman and will be missed. You can read her obituary on our website and in this week’s edition (page 15).

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The Somerville Fire Department, 266 Broadway and the Somerville Police Department, 220 Washington Street, are two locations that will be used to vaccinate first responders against COVID-19 starting on January 11. First responder departments and organizations can visit www.mass.gov/firstrespondervaccine to learn more.

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This year, instead of gathering on Prospect Hill on New Year’s Day to reenact the raising of the Grand Union Flag (considered to be the first flag of the nation), a pre-recorded ceremony was prepared that you can view on City Cable (RCN channel 13 and Comcast channel 22) and the city’s YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/SomervilleCityTV.

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Attention dog owners: You are required to license your dog each year, so it’s time to start thinking ahead to if you haven’t already. Registering for a dog license has never been easier, with online licensing through the website and mobile app. You also get access to an online pet community, with lost-pet alerts and significant savings for your pet supplies and services. Learn more and license your dog at bit.ly/SomervilleDogs.

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Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, in partnership with Buck Lee Real Estate Development, LLC, are pleased to announce an income-restricted condo available for purchase through the City of Somerville’s Inclusionary Housing Program, located at 24 Rush St. in Somerville (24 Rush St. and 11 Brook St.). This 1BR condo #A will be offered to income-eligible first-time homebuyer households at a below market-rate price via an application and lottery process. The application deadline is January 20, 2021, at 2:00 p.m. Learn more about the property and application process at bit.ly/24Rush.For more information and assistance with your application, you can get in touch with the Inclusionary Housing team at inclusionary@somervillema.gov, 617-625-6600 ext. 2566. You can also join the Inclusionary Housing Program Virtual Office Hours, which takes place weekly. You can join virtually using this link: bit.ly/housingofficehours.

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In collaboration with The Beautiful Stuff Project, the City of Somerville, and with generous support from Cradles to Crayons and individual donors, Somerville Family Learning Collaborative volunteers distribute free diapers to Somerville families every Wednesday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., outside of the East Somerville Community School, 50 Cross St., (Glen St. side) and West Somerville Neighborhood School, 177 Powderhouse Blvd. Home deliveries will be provided for emergency and quarantined families. You can help raise awareness and resources to address diaper need by contributing here to The Beautiful Stuff Project’s diaper wish list, or contacting SPS/SFLC Volunteer Coordinator JCapuano@k12.somerville.ma.us to volunteer or donate diapers.

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If you need assistance accessing food, there are several resources available to you locally. Visit the COVID-19 Help page at https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/covid-19-help-food-housing-and-financial-assistance to learn more. There you will find a chart that includes local food pantry schedules, contact information, languages spoken at the food pantry, and whether or not you need to bring ID.

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Hate incidents impact victims as well as the community. In an effort to make reporting hate incidents easier for the residents of Somerville, you may now report them using an online form. Visit the Somerville Police website under the Home tab and submit your Hate Incident report: www.somervillepd.com/home/.

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CHA Somerville Hospital offers free testing at Assembly Row. To make an appointment, call 617-665-2928, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The mobile COVID-19 testing unit also offers testing in our neighborhoods. Mobile testing schedules and more information on both can be found under the “Symptoms, Testing, & Medical Info” tab on somervillema.gov/covid19. The state also operates several Stop the Spread testing sites, including in the nearby communities of Chelsea and Everett. For more information, visit the state’s website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/stop-the-spread.

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Reminder: city buildings are still closed to the public. Although city buildings remain closed to the public, a number of city services are still available online or by calling 311. Check the “City Service Status” tab on the city’s COVID-19 page for more information.

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Don’t forget, if you would like to subscribe to receive a digital edition of our paper, go directly online to our website over to the right side and fill out your email address to receive a free, full PDF copy of the paper.